You and I both know that prevention is better than cure. In the UK, we have a National Illness Service and not a National Health Service; and this paradigm is seen in many other nations. It is also obvious to you and me that investing in child health is the best way to ensure the future health and economic wellbeing of the nation. And in society, parents (and grandparents) would do almost anything to help improve their (grand)children鈥檚 future. So why do leaders in local and national government not seem to care about children and young people and invest in child health services?
Perhaps there is light at the end of the tunnel. Many governments are realising that they need to invest in child health as a matter of urgency, and not unreasonably they are asking for solutions. The new Westminster government has launched a public conversation to help shape the NHS 10 year plan in England. Our College will be submitting a response, and RCPCH &Us has been doing a huge amount to ensure children and young people鈥檚 voice is being heard too, since the under 16s (18% of the population) are not able to contribute directly!
Please can I ask you to submit a response as an individual member of the NHS workforce? Our College Health Policy team has put some resources together which you might include in your submission, aligned with the 鈥three shifts鈥 which we have heard are going to be central to this plan. Many thanks for considering this. into the new year 鈥 we will remind you when the deadline is approaching - but sooner is better than never.
Senior Members' Autumn Meeting
The College CEO, Rob and I attended the Senior Members鈥 meeting in a snowy Oxford this week. A great venue to hear and discuss issues, including genomics, climate change, what activities 鈥retired鈥 members are involved with. And to hear a keynote from Sir Andrew Pollard on the role of vaccination in child health 鈥 an estimated 3.5 to 5 million lives are saved around the world each year by vaccination programmes.
#WDYCD4Y - What Does Your College Do for You
We have a whole range of clinical guidelines and guidance available on our website 鈥 some endorsed by the College, and some developed by us in collaboration with our specialty groups. As we approach winter, we wanted to draw your attention to our national guidance for the management of children in hospital with viral respiratory tract infections - its recommendations are intended to support planning in partnership with local infection prevention control teams. While some recommendations describe organisational structures in England, services in the devolved nations are encouraged to adopt them to fit local models. There is also a handy flow chart you can download and display locally.
Supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning children and young people
This week we published our updated LGBTQ+ Children and Young People鈥檚 principle statement, you might be interested in reading it. The statement follows direct engagement with children and young people on their experiences of being LGBTQ+ and accessing health care, and their hopes for when they are using services. As always, their insights are invaluable. We鈥檝e also added into the statement further resources and information across the nations.
RCPCH Digital Growth Charts win an award
We are thrilled to announce that RCPCH, in partnership with Digital Health and Care Wales (DHCW), has won the HTN Health Tech 2024 Award for 鈥Best Solution for Clinicians鈥. We've been working with DHCW since 2022 to introduce our Digital Growth Charts API into its flagship national integrated care system, Welsh Clinical Portal. And as DWHC says, this will significantly improve data sharing and continuity of care throughout Wales and in various care settings.
We know that growth is such an important indicator of a child's health and our website content about growth charts is consistently popular. Our Digital Growth Charts API is part of our drive to digitise healthcare. It provides the full functionality to plot and monitor child growth, covering height, weight, head circumference and BMI. You can find out how this works and see a demo on our Digital Growth Charts pages.
Are you reporting cases to the British Paediatric Surveillance Unit (BPSU)?
The BPSU enables doctors and researchers to investigate how many children in the UK and Republic of Ireland are affected by particular rare diseases, conditions or treatments each year.
The BPSU surveillance system allows consultant paediatricians or SAS doctors to report cases of conditions the BPSU are investigating. Currently the BPSU are collecting cases on Congenital and Hospitalised Neonatal Varicella and Rapid-onset obesity with hypoventilation, hypothalamic dysfunction and autonomic dysregulation (ROHHAD).
If you wish to contribute to this important work in rare disease research, please sign up to receive BPSU reporting cards.
Celebrating Professor Sir Terence Stephenson鈥檚 appointment as the鈥痭ew chair of NHS providers
Congratulations to a member (and former president) of our College, Professor Sir Terence Stephenson, for being appointed Chair of NHS Providers; a membership organisation for NHS acute, ambulance, community and mental health services in England. Paediatricians are well-represented in senior leadership roles across the NHS; being as neutral as I can be, I think we are excellent communicators and diplomats who get the job done. Well done to Terence and all paediatric leaders in the NHS.
In case you missed it!
As we work to update the RCPCH Facing the Future: Standards for acute general paediatric services (2015), Standards for children with ongoing health needs (2018) and Together for Child Health standards (2015), we would greatly value your input. Please take a few minutes to to help us understand the general aspects of the standards that have worked well, which aspects may need improvement, and for an opportunity to let us know of any innovations you鈥檝e implemented that have helped improve service delivery in line with the standards.
Best wishes,
Steve
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